Many versions of this recording available in video libraries and elsewhere online evidently have heavy echo, or reverb, added. Some video and audio file providers have admitted as much. For example:

YouTube provider MrRJDB1969 attaches the following note in the description below an altered version of the Ray Noble-Al Bowlly recording: “I added in a touch of echo or reverb to give the song a more, “you-are-in-a-ballroom-in-the-1930’s” ..effect.”

The provider of audio file clips (samples) of pieces of music and songs featured in the soundtrack of the 1980 film “The Shining,” included on a page titled Shining Music at drummerman.net, says of the “Midnight, the Stars and You” file: “I added reverb to this clip to simulate the echo within the ballroom.”

The audio files in the following videos, absent such echo or reverb adulteration, may therefore seem slightly unfamiliar, and considerably less “haunting and ethereal.”

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The 1934 recording by Ray Noble and his Orchestra, with vocal by Al Bowlly, is undoubtedly best known today for its use in the 1980 horror film, The Shining, based upon the 1977 Stephen King novel of the same name. One felt compelled to mention this unhappy fact, and now that’s enough about horror films.

The song does not appear to have been particularly popular at the time of its introduction. I’ve thus far discovered only two other contemporary recordings:

Roy Fox and his Orchestra, with vocalist Denny Dennis, recorded on 9 March 1934, and

Hal Kemp and his Orchestra, with vocalist Bob Allen, probably recorded in 1934

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Roy Fox and His Band (At the Café de Paris, London), with vocalist Denny Dennis — recorded on 9 March 1934 and issued that year on the 78 rpm shellac 10″ single (UK) Decca F. 3926‎*, b/w “No More Heartaches, No More Tears”

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Hal Kemp and his Orchestra, vocalistBob Allen — 1934(?) — I’ve been unable to identify either the label or the recording date. According to the Wikipedia Hal Kemp page, “During the 1930s, Kemp recorded for Brunswick, Vocalion and RCA Victor Records.”

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Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks — 2008(?) performance at the Club Cache at Sofia’s Ristorante, in the lower level of the Hotel Edison, 221 West 46th Street, NYC

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Wayne Hancock recorded a country version for his 2009 album Viper of Melody

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I have never in my wildest dreams heard anything so wonderful as Ray Noble and Al Bowlly, The Combination is magic that’s all I can say. I have several discs of Ray Noble and Al Bowlly and if you want to go right straight to heaven all you have to do is listen to them and, mark my word, you’ll be there.

Cecile
I didn’t find it in a quick Google search, nor in searches of several large university libraries. Interest in the song appears to be mostly related to its presence in the horror film The Shining. I’ll let you know if something turns up. — doc

MST,
For works first published in the U.S., with copyright notice, during the years 1923 to 1963, the copyright term is 95 years. So the term of a song published (with notice) in 1934 runs until 2029 under current law. However, “Midnight, the Stars and You” was probably first published in the UK. If so, I imagine that UK copyright law ought to be consulted.

Anyone know which record company / label owns the rights to Al Bowlly’s version? I would assume it wouldn’t be public domain… ??

The recording was evidently first released on HMV (UK) B.6461. According to the Wikipedia article on the His Master’s Voice trademark/record label, the Gramophone Company began to use the trademark in 1908. However, the Gramophone Company eventually became part of EMI. From the Wikipedia page on the Gramophone Company:

I’m troubled by a mistake in the original movie the Shining. The people in the ballroom are dressed in 1920s attire but song “Midnight, the Stars and You,” they are dancing to is from the 1930s. What is the explanation?

Not only do the people in the ballroom wear 1920s attire, there is also, at the film’s conclusion, the zoom in on the photo of the July 4th, 1921 ball at the Overlook, in which the likeness of Jack Torrance appears. Yes, this discrepancy has been long been noticed and commented upon, though I’m unaware of whether Kubrick or anyone else involved in the film ever provided an explanation. One reviewer, in commenting upon the anachronism, questions whether it was intentional or not, considering that Kubrick evidently had a “reputation for insane attention to detail.”